Bead Show Inspiration

Just some of the beads we bought at BABE! The icy blue beads are for a necklace called
Ice Is Nice (free how-to) featured at Bead Inspirations.

 

We love a good bead show! And the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza is one of our favorites. Picture a huge hotel conference room loaded from wall to wall with tables of beads. The sellers have everything bead related: handmade lampwork beads, strands of gemstones, hanks of pearls, bails, clasps, brass stampings, all kinds of findings, and loose beads galore. And best of all, almost every table has necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made by artists just to inspire you to buy more beads. And boy were we inspired!!

 

One of our favorite stops was at the Craft Fantastic booth. The gal there sells everything you need to make gorgous pictures pendants and bracelets, including the pictures! We bought silver bezels (she calls them trays), sheets of vintage bird and butterfly imagery, and glass squares to place on top. We just clicked around on her website and she has a free Tray Pendant tutorial for putting it all together. How nice!

Monogrammed Pendant for Mom!

Create a personalized pendant for Mother's Day featuring Victorian vintage roses and gold leaf accents!

Materials
1 Darice Rectangle Frame Charm, 20x25mm

1 Darice Clear Charm Cover

1/2" Letter sticker on clear background
Scrap of printed text from book
Vintage Victorian Rose clip art

Krylon Gold Leafing Pen

30" Ribbon

Tools & Supplies
Darice Scrapbooking Micro-Scissors
Beacon’s Premium Tacky Glue
Toothpick

Steps
1. Cut a square background image from the printed paperback text. Glue into the Frame Charm with a toothpick and Tacky Glue.

2. Trim the Victorian Rose clip art to fit in the bottom third of the Frame Charm. Glue in place.

3. Use the Krylon Gold Leafing Pen to add gold accents to the clip art.

4. Peel off letter sticker and place over background.

5. Peel the back off the Clear Charm Cover and adhere it to the front of the rectangle charm covering the collage inside.

6. Thread the ribbon through the loop at the top of the rectangle charm.

Steampunk Chic Necklace

The Queen's Flying Machine

You can make our Steampunk Chic necklace! It is featured in the current issue (June 2012) of Crafts 'n things magazine. Get it at Joann's or Michael's. Or see it for free on the web! Just go to www.craftsnthings.com and sign up for the digital edition. You can flip through the whole magazine online!

Make 'n Takes Now Online!

We did a different Make 'n Take every day at the Southern Women's Show in Orlando. If you didn't get a chance to craft with us, we've put the How-Tos on our Web site. Just click on the pictures below to see each project.

Stamped Metal Jewelry

Resin Ring

Riveted Metal Pendant

Vintage Monogram Pendant

The Southern Women's Show Orlando!

We are on our way to Orlando for The Southern Women's Show! We will be doing Make 'n Takes each and every day in the Craft Pavilion.

Make this Resin Ring with us Saturday at 1pm

Thursday 6pm Vintage Monogrammed Pendants!
Friday 5pm Super Simple Stamped Metal Jewelry!
Saturday 1pm Magically Easy Resin Rings!
Sunday 4pm Riveting Metal Pendants In A Flash!

Come craft with us!! We'll be selling our new book Steampunk Chic right after!

Diamond Jubilee

Who knew forgotten earrings and mismatched buttons could make such a glamorous opera necklace?

YOU'LL NEED

Flea Market Finds

Pearls, 8 mm, 21.

Vintage rhinestone and crystal clip-on earrings, 18.

Gold and silver metal shank buttons, 18.

Materials

Silver-plated filigree findings, round, 15 mm, 9.

Silver-plated filigree findings, round, 22 mm, 9.

Silver-plated wire, 24 gauge, 84".

Clear crystal bicone beads, 4 mm, 42.

Crystazzi crystal floral clasp, silver, 12 mm, 1.

Tools & Supplies

Wire cutters.

Round-nosed pliers.

Chain-nosed pliers or wire straightener.

Beacon Adhesives Quick Grip glue.

WHAT TO DO

1. If your filigree findings have a curved surface, flatten them with the wire straightener or chain-nosed pliers. Using the wire cutters, snip the shanks and clips off the backs of the buttons and earrings.

2. Cut a 4" piece of silver-plated wire and feed it through one end of the clasp. Secure with a wrapped loop. Slide one crystal bicone, a pearl, and another crystal bicone onto the wire. Feed the end of the wire through a hole in a small filigree finding and secure with a wrapped loop.

3. Use the same technique to make a bicone and pearl component to connect the small filigree finding to a large one. Continue in this fashion alternating between large and small filigree findings until you have 9 large and 9 small connected by bicone and pearl components.

4. After the last filigree finding, use a bicone and pearl component to connect the necklace to the other end of the clasp.

5. Cover your work surface with newspaper and stretch the necklace out on the paper. Before you start gluing, lay out the earrings and buttons in the order you want them on your necklace. Keep in mind you will use two for each finding, one for the front and one for the back. Use the larger findings for the larger earrings and buttons.

6. Glue the earrings and buttons to the findings using Quick Grip. It is helpful to glue both sides of the filigree finding at the same time, sandwiching the finding between an earring and a button. Let dry. Now put on your little black dress and take your glitzy revamp out for a night on the town!

Bijou Bonanza: Look for grab bags of broken jewelry at the flea market. For just a few dollars you can get all the earrings for this project and some inspiration for your next!

Ephemeral Beauty Brooch

Flea market treasures, like a tiny elephant charm, make this brooch unforgettable.

YOU'LL NEED

Materials

Wooden craft circle, 1" to 2" diameter.

Silver-plated wire, 20 gauge.

Silver-plated jump ring.

Swarovski flatback rhinestones.

Pin back.

From The Flea Market

Old maps.

Watch faces.

Postage stamps.

Pages from a book.

Buttons.

Snaps.

Small springs.

Broken rhinestone necklaces.

Flat charms.

Plastic animal charms.

Tools & Supplies

Wire cutters.

Round-nose pliers.

Chain-nose pliers.

Jeweler's bench block.

Hammer.

Hole punch pliers.

Amazing Goop contact adhesive.

WHAT TO DO

1. To make a background for your brooch, find an interesting section of a map and cut out a circle using the wooden craft circle as a template. Glue the map piece to the wooden craft circle with Amazing Goop.

2. Use the wire cutters to snip off any metal pegs from the back of a large watch face. Glue a postage stamp to the watch face so it sits slightly off-center.

3. Glue a button to the large watch face. If your button has a shank on the back, snip it off with the wire cutters. Center a flat charm on top of the button and glue it into place.

4. Use the wire cutters to cut off any metal pegs from the back of a small watch face and glue it on the large watch face. Glue a rhinestone in the center of the small watch face.

5. Using the hole punch pliers, punch a hole at the bottom of the large watch face (ours already had one there). Take a snap apart and flatten the socket side of the snap using a hammer and a jeweler's bench block. Glue it over the hole you just made in the large watch face.

6. Create a wrapped-loop link with the silver-plated wire by forming a simple loop with the round-nose pliers ½" from the end. Wrap the tail twice around the base of the loop. Trim the end with the wire cutters. Feed the straight end of the wire through the hole in the snap and large watch face. Then finish the link with a second wrapped loop.

7. Open a jump ring with the chain-nose pliers, and use it to attach an animal charm to the bottom loop of the wrapped-loop link.

8. Glue a small spring just below the snap on the large watch face. Scan a book page for a three-word phrase you like and cut it out, leaving 1" above and below the phrase. Roll the top and bottom edges of the clipping back like a scroll with the phrase facing out, then slide it into the spring. 

9. Glue the embellished watch face to the bottom center of the wooden craft circle.

10. Wrap a broken rhinestone necklace around the edge of the brooch with the rhinestones facing up. Use the wire cutters to snip the necklace to fit, then glue it into place.

11. Glue the pin back to the reverse side of the brooch a little above the center.

Hammer Time: Don't have a jeweler's bench block? You can hammer on a brick instead.

Magic Touch: To give your brooch a glossy finish, coat it with Lisa Pavelka's Magic-Glos. It's a pour-on resin that cures in the sunlight in just five minutes! (Remove the paper scroll from the spring first, so it doesn't get wet.)

Secret Garden Beaded Bracelet

Capture the beauty of a summer garden in full bloom with an easy-breezy beaded bracelet.

YOU'LL NEED

Materials
25 Ruby Czech glass bell-shaped flower beads, center-drilled, 8mm
7" length Sterling-plated chain, medium wide cable
25 Sterling silver 1" head pins, 22 gauge
50 Faceted Swarovski crystal bicone beads, 5mm, various colors
1 Silver lobster clasp
1 Silver jump ring

Tools & Supplies
Round-nose pliers.

WHAT TO DO
Step 1: Place 2 different colored bicone beads on a head pin. Then place a bell-shaped flower bead on the head pin so the opening of the bell faces the beads.

Step 2: Push the beads all the way down until they rest on the end of the head pin. Bend the wire 90-degrees where it exits the top of the bell-shaped flower bead. Grab the bent wire at the very tip with the round-nose pliers. Rotate the pliers to curl the wire into a complete loop. You may have to reposition the pliers halfway through.

Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make 25 beaded flower head pins.

Step 4: To attach each flower to the chain, open the wire loop at the top of each flower with the round-nose pliers. Hook the wire through a link in the chain then close the loop again. Continue adding the flowers to links in the chain, making sure they are evenly spaced. Leave a ½" tail on one end of the chain.

Step 5: To finish the bracelet, attach the lobster clasp to the other end of the chain using a jump ring.

Crafty Shopping Tip: Consider buying your beads online. Beads are so small you can often get free shipping! Try www.artbeads.com.

Dazzling Detail: For a professional-looking finish, get 2 or 3 extra bicone beads and place them on a head pin, leaving off the flower bead. Then make a loop at the tip and attach it to the end of the bracelet.

Make The Hottest "Mom" Necklace In Hollywood

Check out the May 3rd issue of Woman's World Magazine to see how we made a glitzy, personalized necklace perfect for Mother's Day. We think ours is prettier than Britney's!

Magic For Your Pendants

We are getting together this weekend to make picture pendants using Lisa Pavelka's Magic-Glos Resin. We met her at CHA and she gave us some and she showed how to use it create a crystal clear finish and even embed little gems in your pendants. Can't wait to try it!

www.lisapavelka.com

Picture Pendant Crazy!!!

We are obsessed with making picture pendants! They are like little framed works of art. Check out our article in the latest issue of Crafts 'n Things for a step-by-step how to.

We get our glass bevels and copper tape at a stained glass supply store and beautiful postage stamps from eBay!

Send us a picture if you make one!!